Jiang Jingshi lowered her head, carefully scanning through the printed profile and the accompanying photo. She flipped through the pages of achievents, and suddenly, she couldn't hold back a chuckle.
She looked amused, as if she had just thought of sothing particularly entertaining. "I wonder how Qianqian will react when she finds out that the childhood engagent partner she’s been so reluctant to et… is actually Lin Zhengran, the guy she’s been secretly paying attention to?"
Fang ng admitted honestly, "To be honest, I really want to see her reaction too."
Jiang Jingshi held the docunts in her hands and suddenly had an idea. "Hmm… I just thought of sothing interesting. Let’s see how this plays out."
She turned and walked out of the study. Fang ng, not quite understanding her intentions, hurried after her.
Back in the living room, Jiang Jingshi raised the papers. "Grandpa, I’ve printed the docunts. Qianqian, do you want to take a look?"
Jiang Qian, seated on the couch, barely reacted. She responded flatly, "Give it to ."
She extended her hand.
But just as Jiang Jingshi was about to pass the docunts over, she suddenly withdrew them and, with a curious expression, turned to ask their grandfather,
"Wait a mont, Grandpa. I rember you telling a long ti ago that, originally, this engagent was supposed to be mine. It was only because he was born late that it got arranged for Qianqian instead, right?"
The elderly man sipped his tea and nodded. "Yes, that’s true. Back when my old comrade and I arranged this engagent, your mother had just found out she was pregnant with you. But at the ti, my comrade’s son still hadn’t been born. It wasn’t until years later that they had a child, so we arranged for him to be betrothed to your sister instead."
Fang ng had no idea where Jiang Jingshi was going with this.
Jiang Jingshi looked down at the photo again, recalling her interactions with Lin Zhengran at the town competition over the past couple of days. Her cheeks flushed slightly as a mischievous thought surfaced.
She asked, "Grandpa, this boy is only three years younger than , right?"
"Four years. You’re twenty, he’s sixteen."
Jiang Jingshi clicked her tongue and corrected him, "What do you an twenty? I’m nineteen. My birthday is in November."
Grandfather sighed. "Fine, fine, you’re nineteen. That ans you’re three years apart."
"Right, a three-year age gap isn’t that much. Older-sister-younger-brother relationships are pretty popular these days. How about this, Grandpa—if Qianqian doesn’t want to et him, how about I do it instead? I’ll go on the blind date."
Grandfather stared at her in shock. "You’ll go?"
Jiang Qian remained expressionless. Though she wasn’t sure what her sister was thinking, she just felt relieved.
But she failed to notice Fang ng’s eyes widening in disbelief. "Miss Jiang, you—!"
Jiang Jingshi turned to look at her, pressed a finger to her lips, and hushed her. Fang ng imdiately shut her mouth.
Jiang Jingshi then continued, "Grandpa, what do you think? A eting is a eting, right? If Qianqian isn’t interested, I am."
"Well… that’s true." Grandfather glanced at Jiang Qian. "But you should ask Qianqian first. After all, the engagent was arranged for her."
"Nonsense," Jiang Jingshi corrected with a playful pout. "Didn’t you just say it was originally ant for ?"
"Oh, right. I ant that he was born too late, so we gave him to Qianqian instead. If she doesn’t want to et him and you do, I suppose that works too. After all, you’re both outstanding girls."
Jiang Jingshi bit her lip, clearly pleased with herself. She gracefully took a seat next to her sister and asked softly,
"Qianqian, what do you think? Do you want to et him yourself, or should I go in your place?"
Jiang Qian, freed from an obligation she had no interest in, calmly picked up her tea and took a sip. "If you want to go, then go. I was never interested in this in the first place."
Jiang Jingshi narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure? Really sure? Just to be safe, I’ll ask two more tis. You’re really giving him to ?"
Jiang Qian remained indifferent. "Yes, I’m sure."
At this point, Fang ng couldn’t help but interject, "Qianqian… I’d advise you to reconsider because—" She glanced at Jiang Jingshi, then rephrased her words carefully.
"Because I think eting him wouldn’t hurt. At least take a look at his profile first. You might actually find him interesting."
Jiang Qian stared at her tea, thinking back to everything about Lin Zhengran in recent days.
She had never thought about who she might marry in the future. She had never even considered liking soone.
Her focus had always been on the Jiang family, constantly thinking about how she would grow up to make the family even stronger.
If she were to ever care about soone, Lin Zhengran was the only possibility.
He was not only exceptionally talented but also had a personality that perfectly complented hers.
But love was nothing more than a distraction from progress. Books often said that falling in love made people stagnant, and only after a breakup did they soar forward again.
She couldn’t imagine herself relying on a boy, much less being in his arms. Just the thought of it felt ridiculous and dull.
That was valuable study ti wasted. Hugging a boy? That’s the ti it takes to turn a page of a book—gone.
Kissing? That’s two pages wasted.
Besides, kissing didn’t even seem sanitary. Why did kissing even exist? Lips were for eating, weren’t they?
She knew she didn’t have romantic feelings for Lin Zhengran. She was just extrely curious about why he was so strong.
So, if she couldn’t even like him, soone she admired yet could never surpass, then she figured she would probably never like anyone.
Or marry anyone.
Jiang Qian took another sip of tea.
Of course, at this mont, she had no idea just how flawed her logic was.
After all, people cannot understand things they have never experienced—just like how you can’t earn money beyond your level of knowledge.
Jiang Jingshi asked once more, "Qianqian, are you absolutely sure you’re giving this boy to ?"
Jiang Qian nodded slowly. "Yes. No matter how many tis you ask, my answer won’t change. I’m not interested in blind dates."
Jiang Jingshi’s lips curled into a smile, her gaze softening as she looked at the profile again. She recalled the mont she had her assistant investigate Lin Zhengran after their instant-noodle incident.
She had never expected that the boy who had once scolded her back then… would turn out to be Lin Zhengran.
"Thanks, Qianqian. Though, technically, 'thanks' isn’t quite right, since he was originally mine anyway."
Grandfather, having listened to their entire conversation, nodded in satisfaction. "Since that’s settled, then Jingshi will go instead. Either way, you’re both excellent."
Fang ng glanced at Jiang Qian’s utterly zen-like expression and let out a sigh. I really hope she won’t regret this later…
She didn’t like seeing Jiang Qian let her curiosity cloud her judgnt, but sothing told her that Jiang Qian was definitely going to regret it.
anwhile, Jiang Jingshi folded the profile docunts neatly and tucked them away, looking forward to the upcoming blind date. "So, Grandpa, when’s the eting scheduled?"
"Isn’t there a holiday next week? National Day. Let’s set it for the evening of the second day of the holiday. I’ll also inform his grandfather."
"Alright, let check my schedule." Jiang Jingshi pulled out her phone and skimd through her upcoming plans.
"Hmm… I have quite a few things to do this week. I’ll need to finish everything up in the next couple of days so I can free up a day for the date. And for the evening…"
She bit her lip in thought. "Should I go for a candlelight dinner? There are actually a lot of things I’d like to talk to him about. But… what should I wear for the date?"
She stood up. "Grandpa, I’m heading to my room to pick out an outfit. This is my first blind date, after all—I have to look my best."
Grandfather gave a slight nod, amused by how eager his granddaughter was. Girls really do change when they grow up. She’s actually excited about a blind date.
After finishing his tea, the elderly man stood up. "Well, since that’s settled, I’ll head to my room to rest. I’ll be staying here for the week. By the way, has my room been prepared?"
Fang ng quickly replied, "Yes, Grandpa, everything’s been taken care of in advance."
"Good work, Xiaong."
She watched as the old man made his way upstairs, noting how healthy and energetic he still was. "Goodnight, Grandpa."
"Mm. You two go ahead and chat."
With Grandfather and Jiang Jingshi gone, Fang ng turned to see Jiang Qian still sipping her tea. She let out a long sigh.
The whole family eting had left her with one lingering question—why was Jiang Jingshi suddenly so interested in this blind date? Weren’t she and Lin Zhengran supposed to be complete strangers?
Jiang Qian seed to have the sa question. "By the way, why is my sister suddenly so interested in this blind date? She has a lot of hobbies, sure, but dating never seed to be one of them. She’s always disliked being alone with guys."
Fang ng hesitated. "Well… I don’t know the exact reason, but I guess it depends on the person. Oh, right—Qianqian, I know it’s a little late, but do you want to see who your childhood fiancé actually is?"
"No."
"Alright… I’ll ask again tomorrow."
School resud, and during the day, Fang ng noticed that Jiang Qian continued observing Lin Zhengran. Though she didn’t seem as flustered as before, her curiosity about him was still evident.
That evening, Fang ng asked again, "Qianqian, are you sure you don’t want to check who your childhood fiancé is?"
Jiang Qian replied absentmindedly, "Nope."
On the third night, Fang ng asked yet again.
"Qianqian… are you really sure?"
Jiang Qian frowned slightly. "Why do you keep asking? What’s your point?"
"Nothing, really. I’m just reminding you that National Day is the day after tomorrow. If you don’t check now, it’ll be too late. I could just tell you his na outright, but since you refuse to look, I won’t say it directly.
"After all, I also think you don’t necessarily need to et him. But at the sa ti, I don’t want you coming back later asking why I didn’t warn you. So… I’m just reminding you."
Jiang Qian: "…"
Still, she didn’t suspect anything.
School was finally out for the holiday! The entire country was in a celebratory mood.
After school, Jiang Qian and Fang ng sat in the backseat of the car. Fang ng gazed out the window and casually asked again, "Qianqian, wanna look?"
But this ti, Jiang Qian actually hesitated.
"You know," she said, "I wasn’t curious at first. But now that you’ve asked so many tis, I do want to know his na. Let see."
She held out her hand but then mumbled to herself, "Not that it really matters. Even if he was Lin Zhengran, so what?"
She muttered, "Which is impossible, anyway. Since Grandpa’s old comrade arranged this, the guy is definitely the son of a businessman. I wouldn’t mind making friends with soone my age in the business world, but dating? No, thanks."
"Oh? So that’s how you see it? No wonder…" Fang ng smirked and turned to her with a playful glint in her eye.
"Well, since you’re so open-minded about this, that’s a relief. Otherwise, I’d actually be worried you’d regret it."
She pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it over.
"Here, take a look."
Jiang Qian took the paper, only to see that it was a perfect score report—with Lin Zhengran’s na on it.
She blinked in confusion. "Why are you giving Lin Zhengran’s test scores? I thought you were showing my fiancé’s profile?"
Fang ng let out an exaggerated "ohhh" and said, "I didn’t bring the full profile, but it’s the sa either way. The nas match."
Jiang Qian frowned. "What do you an? What nas match?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Your childhood fiancé’s na is Lin Zhengran."
There was a long pause.
Then, Fang ng continued with a teasing smile, "In other words, your sister is currently preparing to go on a blind date with Lin Zhengran."
For a mont, Jiang Qian didn’t react.
Then—
She froze.
Like a statue.
Completely petrified.
If soone touched her, she might actually crack into pieces. Small imaginary bits of rock even seed to tumble off her.
Fang ng casually brushed off the "debris" that had "fallen" onto her lap.
"Qianqian, is it really that shocking? Just now, you said that even if it was Lin Zhengran, it wouldn’t matter.
"And it’s not like you even like him, right?"
anwhile, the Rolls-Royce continued smoothly down the road.
The driver suddenly furrowed his brows. "Strange… why does the car feel so much heavier today?"
Fang ng answered matter-of-factly, "That’s because we’re carrying a massive rock in the backseat. Heaviness is to be expected."
As she spoke, she patted the imaginary "stone debris" off her lap again.
Well, well…
Qianqian might be stubborn, but deep down, she’s clearly starting to care about Lin Zhengran.
Even if it wasn’t love yet…
At this rate, it was only a matter of ti.
Reviews
All reviews (0)